By Mark Grace, CCCNZ Ambassador
Na hoki ana a Mororekai ki te kuwaha o te kingi; ko Hamana ia i hohoro ki tona whare, pouri tonu, hipoki rawa te mahunga.
Ona foi atu lea o Moretekai i le faitotoa o le tupu; a ua faataalise atu Hamanu i lona fale ma le faanoanoa, ma ua ufiufi lona ulu.
Afterward Mordecai returned to the king’s gate. But Haman rushed home, with his head covered in grief,
Esther 6:12
Haman knew it was all over for him. Hours before his interview with Esther and the king, he weeps and mourns on the way home to his house. Once he’s there, his wife and his friends acknowledge his demise: “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of the Jewish people, you will not overcome him but will surely fall before him.”
The tragedy of verses 12-13 is that the Haman’s realisation comes far too late. By the time he acknowledges his downfall, it’s inevitable. But why was Haman’s pride the cause of his ruin?
God does not mince words on this topic. Proverbs 16:18, “Pride goes before destruction”.
2 Chronicles 26:16, “But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall”.
Zechariah 10:11, “Assyria’s pride will be brought down and Egypt’s sceptre will pass away”.
Why is pride a direct road to ruin? Pride is a dismissal of God as supreme, and it is an installation of ourselves in God’s place. Pride is a road to ruin throughout the Old and New Testament because it is a complete denial and rejection of His person. God is implacably opposed to the pride of individuals, leaders, nations and empires.
How does pride lead to ruin? God gives us over to it. He gives us over to it both in history and at the end of history.
God brings judgement on the pride of people, nations, and empires by giving us exactly what we want. He gives us over to the consequences of our actions. He uses what we think will make us great as our gallows.
For Haman, the prideful plans that he had laid became the very thing that ensnared him. He hung from the gallows he set up for Mordecai.
We learn from Haman’s downfall that what we put our hope in—as people, nations and empires—apart from God, will ultimately lead us straight down the road to ruin.
But as James 4:6 states, “God opposes the proud but shows favour to the humble”. When Haman begged for his life before the king, the king had no mercy for him. But our God, who humbled himself unto death, even death on a cross, will show favour to everyone who humbles themselves before him.
